Tag Archives: LSU Tigers

Friday’s Bowl games boast some pretty intriguing match-ups for die-hard football fans – you have Bobby Bowden rocking his last game at the head of the Florida State empire that he built. You have two college powerhouses, old – Penn State against new – LSU – and both did work in their respective conferences this season. And then you have the two BCS games, but I’ll talk about them separately. Here are the three games for New Years Day.

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OUTBACK BOWL
Northwestern Wildcats @ Auburn Tigers (-7): Well, Northwestern beat Iowa and Wisconsin, and I guess both of them had solid seasons in the all powerful Big 10 – but besides that, there’s hardly another noteworthy victory on their schedule, and their only good loss came against Penn State – good as in good team, not as in good game, they got beat 34-13. Other losses include Michigan State, Minnesota, and Syracuse – yikes. Auburn has had their fair share of piddlers, I mean they ended the season 2-5, but their 5 losses came to Arkansas, LSU, Georgia, and Alabama – and Kentucky, all pretty good teams in a pretty good conference. That’s enough for me, I think they win by double digits.

GATOR BOWL
Florida State Seminoles @ West Virginia Mountaineers (-2.5): The ACC hasn’t wowed me this season, and West Virginia has speed to burn. This Mountaineer team is built for Bowl Games, because the longer they prepare, the more their speed can be put to use. Florida State is playing without their big guy, as Christian Ponder is down and out with injury – and I don’t think they have the firepower to put up enough points to beat FSU. There it is.

CAPITAL ONE BOWLLSU Tigers (+3) @ Penn State Nittany Lions: This is the first really big Top 15 match-up of the Bowl Season, as the Tigers and Nittany Lions go at it. Not only are they highly ranked, and with just two losses between them, but both have the talent to play with anyone – but as is, I think the tigers are the better team. They don’t have the greatest rushing attack, and through the air they leave a little to be desired, but Penn State hasn’t had one impressive win all season long. Honestly, Michigan State, Northwestern? That’s about it. And while they killed both of those teams, those teams aren’t LSU. I think the Tigers win.

LSU Tigers @ Alabama Crimson Tide (-8.5) Football Pick: A larger percent of the public likes LSU in this one, so much so that the line has dropped to 7.5 from the 9.5 opening. When I made my pick, it was an 8.5 point spread. The public bet is starting to even out, but I can see why most of the bettors like LSU and the points in this one. They’ve lost just one game all year, and that was too one of the Nation’s best teams, Florida, in a very close game, 13-3.

The problem I have with LSU is their ability to score. They’ve struggled offensively against good teams, and Alabama’s swarming defense is one of the best in the nation. The Tide have a fantastic rushing game, and a young quarterback that doesn’t make big mistakes, just 3 interceptions so far this season. Alabama plays the right way, using their run game to out-physical opponents, and the play action pass to stick daggers.

Flat out, I just think LSU is not as good as Alabama. Their rushing attack isn’t as efficient, their offensive line isn’t as good, and as a team their defense isn’t as dominant as the Crimson Tide. I think Alabama has a big performance in this one, beating LSU easily, basically looking a lot better than Florida did when the Gators beat the Tigers earlier this season.

Last season’s win over LSU was Alabama’s first since 2002. The Tigers have beaten the Gators in 7 of their last 8 meetings. The Tigers have finished under the total in each of their last 4 games. The Crimson Tide have finished under the total in each of their last three. Alabama hasn’t lost at home since 2007.

Well if I were taking Thursday games, my underdog romp would be put to the test – that would mean bet Clemson and UAB, though I’m not sure if UAB +18 is that good of a bet. Regardless, I’m not betting Thursday Games this week, but I have to follow the Thursday underdog card for my lean, so Clemson and UAB would be the ones if I had to pick em. Right now I don’t though, and I get to choose a couple bets to work with. Here are the ones that interest me…

Texas Longhorns @ Oklahoma Sooners (-6.5): I don’t think Texas is a Top 10 team in the country, I think Oklahoma is the best team we’ve got in this game – so I have to take the home team at less than a touchdown favorites. I have a feeling this could be a lot like USC/Ohio State – with the Sooners running away with it. We’ll see, certainly, but I love OK in this one. I’m not the only one though, 63% of the public is riding Sooner maroon.

Arizona Wildcats (-6) @ Stanford Cardinal: This may not be great value, but if the Wildcats play to their potential and Stanford plays to their potential, then Arizona wins this game by three touchdowns. The Wildcats are good folks, one of the top 4 teams in the Pac 10.

Washington State @ Oregon State (-30): The Cougars are so bad it’s unbelievable. Last week against a bad UCLA team the Cougars could only manage a field goal while giving up 4 scores. I don’t think Oregon State is the best value at -30, but I think they’ll win by more than 4 scores, so I have to take them here.

Nebraska Cornhuskers @ Texas Tech Red Raiders (-20): I just think Nebraska is a bad blond joke, really. They gathered a little too much love after starting the season with a nice record. They lost at home to a Virginia Tech team that can’t score, and they gave up 35 points in the process. Texas Tech has one of the best offenses in the field, taking them here makes sense, even with all those points to cover.

LSU Tigers (+6) @ Florida Gators: I like LSU. I think they are better than the Gators, because defensively they can stop anyone. Tim Tebow hasn’t really impressed me this year, as he looks a step behind himself last year, both throwing and running. The Gators sure have lots of talent, but they’ll never be as physical as the Tigers. I think LSU pulls the upset here.

Penn State Nittany Lions @ Wisconsin Badgers (+5.5): If the Badgers proved anything last week, it’s that they play great football at home. The Lions have been fantastic thus far, looking almost unbeatable, but that might just change in Wisconsin this week, and at +5.5 the Badgers hold all the value in this one.

Boise State Broncos (-10.5) @ Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles: I like Boise in this one. I don’t think the Broncos will sleep on coach Larry Fedora for one second, and they are the much more talented team. The Broncos beat a good Oregon team and a quality Bowling Green team. SMU just lost home tilts with Marshall and UTEP, back to back. Their only wins are against Arkansas State and a decent Louisiana Lafayette team. The Broncos are too efficient in what they do, and I think they make a statement against SMU in this one – Not in year one Mr. Fedora!

Tulsa Hurricane (-24.5) @ Southern Methodist Mustangs: Tulsa is a nice team. They can really throw the ball. They can run it. They put up lots of points, and considering the amount of possessions their defense has to play, they stop opponents as well. They haven’t played anybody really good yet, but then again the Mustangs aren’t really good. Tulsa has beaten similar mediocre to bad teams by bout 28 points (if you don’t count their 63-7 win over Bowling Green. I think that margin is about right, giving the Hurricane a nice 5-5 point value here.

Idaho Vandals @ Fresno State Bulldogs (-34): I’ll say it again, that’s how bad Idaho is. Think the Detroit Lions of college football. The Bulldogs have played below their talent level the last couple games, I bet that trend doesn’t continue in this one. The Vandals put up 14 poitns against Nevada last week, that alone was amazing, they still lost by 35 points though. In their 5 losses this year, the Vandals haven’t been closer than 23 points – and that was against Western Michigan. Brutal. FSU 54- Idaho 10…

Air Force Falcons (-10.5) @ San Diego State Aztecs: Air Force is good, SD State is bad. Air Force played tight with a very good Navy team (lost by 6) and an even better Utah team (lost by 3) – they should trounce the Aztecs.